The Foxes Trust Board are very sad to hear the recent news of former Trust board member passing away after a second stroke at the age of 54.
Steve played a fundamental role in the formation of the Trust, particularly in the area of fund raising with the Trust raising over £100,000 to help save our club and he served on the Trust Board until having a stroke in his mid-30’s which resulted in long term lack of movement in one arm and leg and limited communication skills, however despite this Steve continued through life with a smile on his face and a great sense of humour.
On the day of his funeral, we pay tribute here with the individual thoughts of several current and former Trust board members
Trust Found Member, Nigel Ritchie
My memories of Steve are obviously mostly from the very early days of the Foxes Trust, though I also saw him a few times in McDonald’s in Wigston.
The memories from those early days of the Trust when we’re trying to raise funds to secure a Fan Director are of Steve being focused & determined to do it & was always hugely optimistic, we would do it.
Not matter what setbacks we had, and there were many, his optimism & faith in Leicester City supporters never wavered.
He always believed the impossible was possible, which is why he overcame as much as he did after his stroke, I guess.
One memory from that time is there was some charity/fund raising game at what was then the Walkers Stadium with a “Leicester City” team taking on a Celebrity team of sorts.
I can’t remember much about it, but what I vividly remember is how passionately Steve supported the “City” team that played, just because it was Leicester.
To watch Steve that day you would have thought he was watching City in a Cup Final!
Cheering like mad if the Leicester team scored & being annoyed at someone (mostly the ref!) if the other team scored.
But that was Steve, if something mattered to him, whether it was the Trust, LCFC, his family or charity work, it was never less than complete utter devotion & commitment with Steve.
In recent years I only saw Steve on a few occasions in McDonald’s in Wigston but each time he saw me his face broke out into a big grin & he would greet me with “Foxes Trust!”
No matter what Steve did it was always for the benefit of someone else.
No ego or self-promoting himself, just doing whatever he could to make the lives of others better.
He will be very sadly missed.
Trust Chairman, Ian Bason
In the year the Trust was formed, we faced many challenging times as the Trust Board knew that there was a real danger of our club going out of existence (a reality much closer than most LCFC fans realised), so there were many long hours of work to cover all that was needed, however we could rely on Steve to lighten the mood while at the same time coming up with many inventive ways to promote the Trust or raise funds via events or company sponsorship, be that money or donating services we needed free of charge, a consistent winner of blag of the week.
His enthusiasm was infectious, and he was really successful at attracting fans to join the Trust when we approached fans outside the ground prior to games.
As part of the Trust obtaining shares in the club, the Trust were given 2 seats in the Directors Box and we established a rota of board members who would accompany a Trust member picked by a random draw, Steve was part of the rota, 2 occasions particularly come to mind.
The first was when Chelsea visited and Roman Abramovich had personal security with him, and all LCFC Directors were very nervous, however that day our guest was an excited 18 year-old who ignored all the security protocol and walked up to Roman for this autograph, while panicked looks were across various faces, Roman smiled and signed, while Steve re-assured everyone with his usual charm.
The second was more significant, with Steve on duty again, our guest was Bruce Nadin a local minister and Steve introduced Bruce to LCFC CEO Tim Davis who was on the look out for a new club chaplin, Bruce took up that role and has been a sports chaplain ever since, now based in South Africa.
In more recent years I have been delighted to see Steve on a regular basis as he joined a Walking Football group I’m involved with, where despite his limited movement, he played a full part and enjoyed teasing and winding up other players in a light-hearted way. The group were shocked to learn of his second stroke the day after playing in a 4-3 victory as he gleefully pointed out on our WhatsApp group, which has now been renamed Steve’s Friday Night Walking Football in his honour.
Trust Found Member, Lynn Wyeth
It was with great sadness I heard of Steve’s passing. He was there at the start of the Foxes Trust, a key player during the pain of administration. Steve always had a sparkle in his eye and a cheeky smile which was much needed when morale was low and we thought we would lose the club.
He helped me with several interviews during that period, egging me on to try and get joke phrases in the interview to keep me focussed. I managed to get ‘It’s a game of two halves” and “over the moon, Brian’ in an interview outside Forest’s ground, raising money for the Trust in doing so!
Much love to all his family and friends, we’ve lost a true Fox.
Trust Company Secretary, Alan Digby
It was with great sadness & shock I heard of Steve’s passing. Being of similar age it really brings home what matters.
He was there from the start of the Foxes Trust. Steve was always positive & was great help to me after I joined the first FT Board.
I especially remember, in the early days, Steve, myself & Simon Kimber running around “trying” to referee the 5-a-side matches @ the FT 5-a-side day held in the Dome in @ LCFC’s Belvoir Drive Training Ground. “Trying” being the operative word!! 5/6 hours of that would be hard for “professional” referee’s & we used to finish up “knackered”!! But never the less, it was enjoyable to see many people playing on their LCFC heroes Training Pitch, that they would never normally get the chance to do. So thanks to Steve for those days.
My deepest condolences to all his family and friends, we’ve lost a true (way too early!!) LCFC / FT Legend.” RIP
Trust Vice Chairman, Matt Davis
So much has already been said about Steve that I would have repeated, but one of my lasting memories was his delight in getting one of the streets that were created as part of the student development around the old Filbert Street, named Lineker Road after our one and only Gary Lineker. Steve navigated his way through much administrative requirements, one such example being it was the first time a street had been named after a celebrity that was still alive i.e. negotiating a move from long established protocol.
I will never forget Steve’s beaming face when the chauffeur driven car pulled up and out stepped Gary Lineker (along with Trevor Brooking who was en route to another event with Gary) to officially open the Road along with several officials from Leicester City Council and media representatives. A man of his word, Steve said he’d get it done and he didn’t give up until he pulled it off.
Whilst after his stroke Steve stepped down from the board, he did come back to one or two board meetings and AGM’s with me and in addition to this, every time I went to McDonalds we’d sit and discuss all things Leicester City and Foxes Trust, with much communication limitations solved with McDonalds napkins and a biro. Such was Steve’s passion for both the club and the Trust, that he never gave up until I fully understood and past on his thoughts to the rest of the board.
Knowing Steve at least since our Howard Jones gig 37 years ago (Howard who?!) means I could say so much more about the great man, including beer festivals, celebrating winning the league with him, his 50th birthday, how my children simply adored him, Christmas Carols at the pub in Wigston etc etc – but instead I’ll just end this by saying that Steve was an absolute gentleman who was loved by all and his face genuinely always lit up a room with his infectious smile and his desire to catch up on everything each time he had not seen you for a while.
A truly lovely bloke will be missed by so many – thank you Steve for everything you did for your club and the Foxes Trust, your legacy and more importantly your example will live on forever.